How tall is your backlog today?

Kudos to @visualize_tom for the inspiration.

Life after 30 feels like an MMO after 1000 hours

1. Need potions
2. Grind nonstop
3. People quit server
4. Skills level up slowly
5. You entertain the whales
6. Timers keep getting longer
7. Gameplay is already boring
8. You picked the wrong perks
9. You can donate, but you’re broke

Name the game that forced you to upgrade your PC or change your Console.

Atari and Bandai Namco have announced a series of products to celebrate Pac-Man’s 45th anniversary, including a yellow Atari console.

Roblox says creators on its platform earned $923 million in 2024 and are on track to receive over $1 billion in 2025.

So the question is:

𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺… 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦?

Tools like PlayMakers transform your game into a platform:

• UGC tools ➜ to empower creation
• Social quests ➜ to spark connection
• Custom rewards ➜ to drive loyalty

53% of Gen Z and Alpha see content creation as a career

But studios still ask:

“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺?”

While players ask:

“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥?”

Gamers spend 8.5 hours/week watching
↳ More than they spend playing

42% met a friend, partner, or spouse
↳ 52% found help in hard times

$1B+ paid to creators last year:

• Roblox: $803M
• Fortnite: $479M
• Overwolf: $240M

❌ That’s not just UGC ✅ That’s GDP

The future of games is not only about games.

And the numbers prove it ↓ 🧵

𝟮. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲
𝟯. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁
𝟰. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆
𝟱. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆
𝟲. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗯𝘆𝗲

6 ways to be the game players never forget:

𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 ↓

Being a loyal player doesn’t mean:

• Unlocking every drop
• Playing every day
• Buying every DLC

Esports World Cup starts today, July 8, with Cristiano Ronaldo as the ambassador, 26 titles & $71.5 prizes.

Discover the Japanese secret behind games that matter.
• Iki ➜ “life”
• Gai ➜ “worth”

Friends ≠ Freebies

Real friends don’t ask for “free keys.”

They pay full price.
They play the game.
They leave a review.

GTA V and GTA Online to officially release in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

July 17, 2025.

‘Stop Killing Games’ Initiative Reaches 1M Signatures.

↓ First, rest.
↓ Then, rebuild.
↓ Only then, move
↓ with a full tank and a clear head.

Because no one wants to be remembered as the Zoom-call ghost.

🟢 First, heal ➜ Then, choose.

THE EMPLOYEE?

The worst move you can make,
↳ is job hunting from burnout.

As Oksana Kostikova,
(a recruiter I trust, puts it:)

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘢."

THE EMPLOYER?

If you don’t ask why they burnout,
↳ you’ll keep losing them.

Skip that moment and the cycle starts again:

Hire ➜ Burnout ➜ Exit ➜ Repeat

What happens next?

They quit.

🔴 OR WORSE

They crash.

🔴 It’s a LOSS on both sides

Acting without pause?

Only makes it worse.

And while the work gets done,
↳ the cost is quietly stacking up:

• Panic attacks they hide on camera
• Emotional shutdown at home
• Insomnia and chronic fatigue
• Resignation already typed

🔴 Burnout doesn’t always look broken.

It often looks like:

• Skipping PTO
• Replying at midnight
• Working through lunch
• Saying “it’s fine” when it isn’t

Don’t hate me, but your ‘high performer’ might be suffering in silence ↓

𝟯. 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝘀? 𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱.
↳ No content = no reason to stay
↳ Retention is built, not wished for
↳ This is where games live — or die

𝟰. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.
↳ Alpha and beta are about feedback
↳ Not just bug hunting
↳ Balance is a moving target

𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮
↳ Good concept ≠ good game
↳ Ideation is just stage №1
↳ And most games die in stage 3

𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
↳ "We’ll figure it out later"
↳ Later = delays, debt, rework
↳ You plan once — or pay twice

5 stages of game dev.
5 places you can ruin it.

New devs fall into the same traps ↓

Which brand × game collab got it right?

Drop it below. I'm collecting the best.

$18B+ in-game ad revenue by 2029.